


A World Without Mylene

by Natasha_Salvato



Category: The Get Down (TV)
Genre: And I'm sorry for that, F/M, M/M, My first fic, and her importance to the story, dizzee/thor are mentioned in future chapters, i needed to do something that would focus on Mylene, so you may be surprised, the killer is not one of the bad guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:24:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8183596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natasha_Salvato/pseuds/Natasha_Salvato
Summary: My first fic, english is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes. I wrote this fic based on the anime Erased, in this universe Mylene died at the age of 16 and Zeke never got over it, but nineteen years later, after another tragedy strikes his life, he manages to go back to the past and get a second chance to save Mylene, but by doing so he will be changing not only his and Mylene’s past, but their future and the future of everyone around them. Please, coment, your feedback is very important to me.





	1. How Zeke Remembers It

**Author's Note:**

> I thought about doing a little soundtrack to that fic, if you like to listen to music while reading. Here's the song for that chapter: Birdy - Skinny Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNzCDt2eidg)

1996

Zeke is a 35 old literature teacher, he looked older than he was and unhappy, he could never be happy. It was nineteen years ago but he still remembers it like it happened yesterday, Mylene, the girl he always had crush on was found dead in a cold night at a alley in the Bronx, they never found her killer, she never got justice.

Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night sweating and hearing her screams, she would beg for his help, but he couldn’t, it was too late. 

“You have to let go”, says Ra Ra, his friend, college graduated and still a Star Wars nerd. 

“I can’t”

“The thing is, Zeke, you can’t change the past, no one can. As long as they don’t invent a time machine like in Back To The Future, we just have to accept things as they are and move on”.

“If you could change your past, wouldn’t you?”, Zeke’s face was dead serious.

“Yes, for a start I would never have borrow you my comic books when I knew you would never return”, Ra Ra joked.

Zeke laughed, but his heart was still sad.

“I have to go now, Dizzee is bothering me and Boo Boo to go to that get together with his friends and he will kill me if I miss it”

“Is him still trying to put his art out there?”

“You know how my older brother is, always dreaming big, sometimes a little bit too big”

“That’s Rumi. See you!”

They shake hands and Ra Ra leaves. Zeke is left alone with his thoughts.

“I want you to be my girl”, sixteen years old Zeke spilled his heart out to Mylene but his words were meet with a cold denial.

“No, I got plans”, she said. 

If only they knew that Mylene would never get a chance to make her dreams come true, her plans would never happen, all because one night she was unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“That was superflicious”, Zeke said completly in trance.

“What is ‘superflicious’?”, Mylene asked.

“It’s super plus official plus delicious”, he answered.

“That’s not a real word”, she said.

“It is if I say it is”

She just smiled to him.

Mylene had such a sweet smile, she was the joy of Zeke’s life, while he had no idea where he was going, she knew exactly what she wanted and even if he didn’t, he knew one thing, he wanted Mylene.

*ring* *ring*

Zeke is waken in the middle of the night by his phone ringing, he picks it up worried.

“Zeke?”

“Boo Boo?”

“Zeke, I need... Come and talk with me”

The call started to break up.

“Boo, what is going on? Aren’t you at Dizzee’s party?”

“Please, Zeke... Come... Talk... Me”

“Where are you?”

Boo Boo gave him the adress, he had to repeat a few times so Zeke could write it down. The wind was strong that night, but the streets were silence, they meet at a park where they used to go as kids, Boo Boo smoked a cigarette and looked worried sick. He had to be since he was trying to quit smoking for a while.

“Thanks God, you are here”

While he walks towars Boo Boo he sees a purple butterfly flying in his direction, something was going to happen, he knew it, it happened before, the feeling was familiar, but he decided to ignore it.

“Boo Boo, what happened?”

Boo Boo now worked as a lawyer, he decided to give up on the singing career even with a voice of angel. He wanted something solid in order to provide to his family, now Boo Boo was married and had a baby girl.  
“You ain’t gonna believe it”, he had a fainted expression almost as he had seen a ghost.

“What?”, Zeke couldn’t take anymore. The tension was killing him.

“It’s about Mylene”, he look around to make sure they were alone. “I know who killed her”

Zeke couldn’t believe, he thought that day would never come, could that be true? Was her murder finally getting solved?

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you right now...”

“Why not?”

“Because I have no proves, it will be my word against them. But I need you to know, if something happens to me”, he catched his breath as if what he was saying physically hurted him. “I want you to do something for me”

“Anything”

“Go to my parent’s house and look in Ra Ra’s old room, look behind his Star Wars poster”

“What should I look for?”

“You’ll know when you see it”

“But Boo...” before he could finish his sentence a shot noise was heard and Boo Boo fell to the ground. “No”, Zeke screamed. “Boo Boo, please”, he looked around but saw no one.

Boo Boo’s blood was in Zeke’s hand, he begged for his friends life, but it was pointless, Boo Boo was gone.

The cops arrieved just few minutes later, they questioned him, but he didn’t have much to say. He had somewhere else to go, the Kiplings’s old house.

“Hey, you can’t leave”, a policeman said as Zeke stood up.

“I have to go!”, Zeke insisted.

“No, sir, you don’t understand, you can’t leave, not while we don’t have all the facts. For now you are the only witness and possible suspect”

“Suspect?”

“It’s just procedure”

“Fuck procedure”

“Hey”, the man holded Zeke as he tried to leave.

“Get your fucking hands away from me”, Zeke shouted.

“Sir, I don’t want to use force...”

Zeke didn’t listen, he pushed the policeman and runned away from the scene while being chased by the cops.

He manages to get in his car and drives like a lunatic, he had to do what Boo Boo told him to, he knew his life was in danger and if he got killed is because he was closer to the truth than anyone have ever been.

The purple butterfly appeared again something else was going to happen as Zeke drove his car as fast as he could flashes of his friend lifeless body in his arm and Mylene’s smile started to pop in his head.

“I love you, Mylene”, Zeke would says between tears. “Forever”, and he meant it.

Suddenly Zeke’s eyes were so blur he couldn’t see anymore, everything turned into a white cloud and he hit the breaks trying to avoid a accident, when the car stopped his body ricocheted and he hitted his head on the wheel making a small cut that started to bleed. 

He lost conscious for a few minutes, when he opened his eyes again he was in a different place, he wasn’t in the car anymore, no... He was in a bed... Slowly he started to regonize the place, he was in his old bed at his aunt’s appartment. How was that possible? 

He brought a big house to his aunt to live in and they never came back to the Bronx after he wrote a best seller and made a fortune with royalities. It couldn’t be his aunt who took him there, but who did and why did his bedroom look exactly like it did when he still lived there?

“Zeke”, he heard a voice calling for him. It was a female voice that also sounded familiar, but it couldn’t be. “Hey, boy, hurry up or you’ll be late for school!”

School? What the hell was going on?

The door opened and Zeke almost had a heart attack, the woman standing with her arms interviewed looked exactly like his aunt, but nineteen years younger.

“Are you deaf?”, she asked in a jokey tone.

“He is probably thinking about the preacher’s daugther”, her boyfriend said in the background.

“Let the boy be. He is in love, there’s nothing wrong with that”, she said.

He was sure he was dreaming, how could his aunt be standing right in front of him looking nineteen years younger?

Zeke stood up and went to the bathdroom in a rush, he was still a little dizzy, but manage to stand still.

“Are you okay, Zeke? You look kind of green”, his aunt looked at him concerned.

“I’m okay”, he said still confused.

When he arrived in the bathroom it looked exactly as he remembered, as if a teenager boy had just exploded there. He looked in the mirror, his hands shaking, that wasn’t how he looked like yesterday, that was how he looked like in 1977 when he was still a sixteen years old boy trying to get the girl of his dreams to notice him.

That couldn’t be real, no way Zeke went back in time and is now his younger self. This type of things don’t happen in real life, it’s absurd. He hold a scream, tears streaming down his face, for a moment he was sure he had lost his mind.

“Zeke, if you don’t want go to the school today it’s okay, I’m worried about you”, his aunt said at the door.

School? Does it mean that he would see... Flashes of his group went through his mind and Mylene, Mylene walking down the street with Regina and Yolanda, looking at him with a smile on her face. He would give anything to be able to see her again like that.

“Aunt, what day is today?”

“Silly boy, it’s wednesday”

“No, I mean... What year are we?”

“Oh my... You are really not fine, are you? Okay, we are in 1977. Why? Gotta any plans?”, she mocked.

So it was true.

“And Mylene will go to the school today?”

“I guess, how would I know? But I don’t think her father would let her miss class”

She was alive, he breathed in relieve.

“I have to go”, he rushed to grab his things.

“Are you sure? I said it was okay if you want to skip class today, no one will die if you miss a day of school”

Zeke freezed.

“I know”, he forced a smile. “But I want to go, to be a better man”

“Okay”, she had a proud grin on her face, he loved when that happened.

He kissed her cheek, he didn’t stop to think until now, but he almost forgot how beautiful his aunt was and how he missed the old days in that small appartament.

When he stepped out of the building he was welcome by Bronx, the gray city with colorful people. He couldn’t even hide his smile, he probably looked crazy to anyone who saw him, but he was so damn happy to be back, even if it was one of the worst times of his city it was all worth because nothing could be worse than a world without Mylene.

“Man, we thought we had lost you”, he heard Ra Ra’s voice from afar.

The boy looked skinner than he remembered, he certanly got buffed over the years, he wanted to hug his friend, but that would probably look weird.

“As if he would miss a chance of see Mylene”, Boo Boo’s voice sounded like music to Zeke’s ears and he wan’t even singing.

“Boo Boo!”, he exclaimed and the boys looked at him suspicious. “Why are you wearing that ugly shirt for? Does your moms still pick your clothes?”, he tried to easy the mood.

“Oh, man, you know she does, you know she does”, Boo Boo said under his breath.

“Zeke, you are looking different, what is that?”, Ra Ra said, he was always good to read people.

“Nothing... I’m just excited for school”

“You are?”, Boo Boo and Ra Ra asked at the same time.

“Not really, but... Mylene is going to be there, so”, he smiled.

The boys shared a knowing look.

***

When Zeke arrived at the school he couldn’t hold his excitment, he knew exactly where he was going to find Mylene, but he didn’t want to be creepy.

“Man, you are looking like a psyco right now”, Ra Ra took him back to the real world.

“What?”

“You seriously need to stop staring or instead of interested this girls will think you want to murder them”

This words sounded way more hurtful that them were meant to.

“I’m sorry”

“It’s alright, watcha ya thinking?”

“Mylene”

“Jesus, why did I even bother asking. Hey, are you going to watch Star Wars tomorrow?”

He had to bite his tonge to not spoil the big plot twist to his friend, Ra Ra would hate him for that.

“Yeah”

“I don’t think I’ll really like it”, says Boo Boo.

“You are a fool, you can’t judge something you never saw. Besides that, this movie is really awesome, everyone is talking about it”

“I don’t know why people care so much about space and shinning swords”

“They are lightsabers, Boo Boo. And they are fucking cool!”

Zeke was enjoying see his friends bantering with each other, it remind him of the old times, that weren’t that old now and some didn’t even happen yet. But his attention was caught by another thing, Mylene walking into the school followed by Regina and Yolanda, she was even prettier than in his memories.

She smiled when she saw him, but walked right pass him.

“Forget it, Zeke, Mylene is too good for you”, Yolanda said.

The three girls started to giggle. Zeke smirked, in a way she was right, Zeke wasn't good enough for Mylene, but he would be eventually.

“I’m sorry for my sister, she can be a pain sometimes”, Ra Ra says putting a hand on Zeke’s shoulder.

“I don’t mind”.

“Anyway, she is wrong, you are good enough for Mylene or at least you'll be, if you take a shower", Boo Boo jokes

Zeke roll his eyes, they laugh, for a moment he almost forgot about the tragedy that followed. It was like he was given a second chance to do the right thing, for him and for Mylene.


	2. Two Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeke is back in 1977, he is trying to figure out what he can do to save Mylene, but it may be harder than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: Youth - Daughter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QT5eGHCJdE)

Zeke laughed with his friends, but kept a eye on Mylene, tried to act cool and just go with the flow, after a while it wasn’t that hard, it was like he truly had became his younger self.

He was walking down the street when he was stopped by Mylene.

“Wil you help with my record tomorrow?”, he almost had forgot about it.

“Yes, of course”

“Good, we have to go there in the morning so we can lie to my dad and say we are preparing the sunday’s service, at least my little sister find out about it, she loves get me in trouble with papi”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there”.

Mylene stares him for a while.

“You look different, there’s a heavyness in your eyes that wasn’t there before”, she says concerned.

Guess he could look younger, but his soul was old. And he couldn’t erase what he knew, look at Mylene hurted him inside, not knowing if he would be able to save her this time.

“I’m just tired”, he lied.

“Okay, so rest well, I want you to be sharp tomorrow, the piano won’t play itself and I’m counting on you”, she put her hand on his arm.

“Mylene, have I ever failed on you?”, just once.

“No”, she says softly.

“And I won’t ever”, it’s a promise.

She smiles making him grin.

“See you, Zeke”

“See you, Mylene”

Later that day, Zeke went to the park where he used to meet his friends, the same park where he watched Boo Boo get shot. The image sent shivers down his spine.

“I already told you, Rumi is a alien who wants to go the opera, but he knows that even if he dress himself fancy and wears a top hat people will still hate him...”, Dizzee is passionally talking about his pieces to his brothers that don’t seem to understand him very well.

“Damn Dizzee, why you gotta be so weird?”, Ra Ra says frustrated.

“Yes, man... Sometimes I wonder if we are really related”, Boo Boo mocks.

Dizzee just gives in and shake his shoulders.

“Hey”, Zeke announces himself.

The boys looked happy to see him.

“What is up with that gleam in your eyes, what happened?”, Ra Ra asks.

“Tomorrow I’ll declare myself to Mylene”, he remembered it and he remembered that it didn’t go well, but he had a good feeling about it this time.

“For real?”, Ra Ra said excited.

“Yes, I wrote... I’m writting her a poem”

The boys facepalmed.

“Man, that way you’ll never get laid”, Ra Ra says.

“I don’t agree, I think it’s nice that Zeke is so in touch with his emotions, go for it, girls love a sensitive guy”, Dizzee says.

“Yes, they do.. As their friends”, Boo Boo jokes.

Ra Ra laughs, but Zeke and Dizzee stay serious.

The Next Day

The first time Zeke sulk at home after Mylene denied his offer, what resulted in her meeting Cadillac, dancing with him, winning the competition and after he saved her life after the shooting she was forever grateful to him and they started ‘dating’, this time he would make it different. He went look for her favorite record, he knew where he was going to find it, at the Kingstont Top Shop, he was focused looking for Misty Holloway’s rare record when he noticed something weird going on.

It was the Savage Warlords, Zeke hidded so they couldn’t see him and he was trying to think fast when some mysterious figure wearing red pumas surprised him and stole the record from his hands. He run after him, but the man looked like a ninja, jumping over the cars, skipping like a rabbit.

“What the hell?”, he thought to himself. But he wasn’t going to let the man escape, he needed that damn record.

The man was Shaolin Fantastic, the lady killing romantic. Zeke managed to get the disco back after it fell from the building, Shaolin wasn’t happy about it, but he was too busy trying not to die. Fortunally, that wouldn’t be the last time they met.

***

Zeke was starting to get anxious, he wasn’t sure what he had to do to change Mylene’s fate, but he knew it was coming.

He and Mylene danced at the club and kissed, just like he imagined, but later that night she denied him once again for his lack of determination, the next day she performed at the curch without her dad’s approval in the hopes that the music producer, Jackie Moreno, would take interest into her, that resulted in she being kicked out of the house. Zeke could feel her pain, but she was strong and kept going after her dream.

Two days had passed since he came back...

After much thinking he finally remembered where everything went wrong. The date was 13 of july of 1977, Mylene was found dead the next day.

The five boys were driving around the Bronx with Cadillac’s car, it seemed like the perfect day, smoking by the river, dancing and just enjoying the day, they could almost forget where they were, until Boo Boo remind them to check the trunk and they were suck back into reality.

They definately weren’t in a Walt Disney’s world. There was a dead little boy inside, probably the reason why Shao was given the mission to disapear with the car, if only they knew what they were getting themselves in. 

On this day the Fantastic Four Plus One became more than friends, they became brothers, with a bond stronger than blood.

“I tell you my secrets all the time, and you always listen...”, later Mylene found him at Shao’s place, it was like his heart had called hers, she put her hand over his, “It’s my turn to listen now”.

“Listen to what?”, his voice was breaking.

“Zeke, come on”

Her voice was soft, he broke down not being able to hold any longer.

“Something bad happened tonight”

She listened to him, dried his tears and took him to the rooftop, she started to kiss his lips, exactly how he always imagine it.

“No”, he said with his breath cutting.

“Why not?”

It took all the strength he had to not consume their love right there, but it wouldn’t be right. They stayed in silence, having a conversation with their eyes.

Zeke knew that Mylene would be found dead the next morning, he couldn’t let her go this time, he had to make her stay to make sure she would be okay. He thought for a moment and dared to ask the question.

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

She pondered the question.

“Yes”, she kissed his cheek.

They lay down on the couch and cuddle while watching the sunrise, Mylene fell asleep in Zeke’s arm, he wouldn’t dare close his eyes.

***

The next day, Zeke was the happiest man on Earth as he took Mylene home and made sure that she would be safe.

But destiny can be trick sometimes. And just when he thought he had changed fate, he learn that fate can not be changed.

He was with the boys, like always, after the blackout lot of stole stuff were sold in the black market. 

Mylene was happy her uncle was going to pay for her record, but wasn’t too happy with Zeke’s new friendship with Shaolin.

If it wasn’t enough things getting bitter with Mylene, things quick got bitter with Shaolin after he found out about the bootleg. But Zeke would have to think about it later. 

It late in the after when the purple butterfly appeared, something was off, he had to find Mylene, he ran to the Kipling’s salon, Yolanda was there.

“Yo, where is Mylene?”, he asks in panic.

“I thought she was with you”

“With me?”

“Well, she left saying she had stuff to do and I just assumed stuff was you”

“Shit, which way did she go?”

“She went left down the street”, Yolanda didn’t understand his worry.

“Thanks”, but he wouldn’t be able to explain.

He ran like never before, but the faster he went slower it seemed. Suddenly a bright light blinds him and he bumps into Cadillac.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here”, he sounded like a movie villain.

“Listen, man, I don’t want trouble, just let me go, please”

“Wait...”, he stares at Zeke. “You stole my girl, you owe me”

“She isn’t your girl and how do I owe you after what we did for you?”, not in this reality.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your little secret, it was such a nice car, such a shame it stank” 

“Oh, right,” he thinks for a while. “So I guess we are even”

“You don’t say”

Zeke manages to get away and keep running.

“Hey, if you see the girl, Mylene? Tell her that I miss her, I really feel like we could be a thing”

Zeke shudders, he leaves. He looks for Mylene for the rest of the afternoon, it was night and he had to go back in the hopes that she would be home safe, that's when he felt a pain in his chest, like he had been stabbed, he saw Mylene’s dead body in a dark alley.

“No”, he whispers.

He runs to the place of his vision. He sees a dark shadow running away.

“YOU”, he screams, he follows the figure that disappears in the dark.

He freezes.

“Mylene”, he falls next to her. He touches her face, she doesn’t move, but she is still breathing. “Please, babe, don’t leave me. Not this time”  
“Zeke... Th...”

“What? No... Don’t say anything, rest, you need to rest, you’ll be okay, I’ll look for help”, he tries to stand up but she holds him.

“You know”, she says weak.

“I know? I... I don’t understand”, but she doesn’t answer.

There was no longer light in her eyes and he realizes, she is gone. Just like the first time, just like Boo Boo. He failed.

He cries in silent, holding her, begging, denying, accepting, trying to understand why.

That night he went to the church, it was empty and sadder. He looked at the paint of Jesus, looking so surpreme, but where was him when Mylene needed him? Was that because she was sinner? Because she dared to dream? Because she had love and was not ashamed of it? She didn’t condemn herself like her father did, is that why he is alive and well while Mylene is dead?

His sadness turned into angryness, he grabbed a candle and throwed it away.

“Take me instead. Take me and give her back!”, he begged.

His proposition was recieved with silence, only the sound of his breathe and his heart beating like a drum.

“Mylene”, he said between tears. “I’ll love you forever”

Suddenly a light started to shine from the roof when he looked up he saw a purple butterfly flying in his direction, he raised his hand to touch it, but it escaped.

“What you want from me? Why is this happening?”, he screamed in agony.

He heard a whistle and it was like he could hear Mylene’s voice singing from afar. His vision turned blur.

“No, not again”

When he opened his eyes he was in a different place, not the church, but Ra Ra’s living room.

“Man, you look like shit”, Ra Ra said serving him a glass of water.

The living room was fancy, minimalist, not like the one from the Bronx and Ra Ra looked older and stronger, does it mean it was all a dream? Could be, but his friend’s death was still as real as it felt.  
His head hurted like it was hitted by a hammer a couple of times, flashes went through his head, mix of dreams and reality.

“What happened?”, he asked with his voice weak.

“Boo Boo is dead, Zeke. My little brother is dead”

“And what am I doing in here?”, he touched his forehead, it had a small cut now with a bandage on.

“You don’t remember anything, do you? You showed up at my door with your head bleeding, you fainted right in front of me and I took you in. You were out for two days, man, I thought you were gone”, Ra Ra explained.

“Ra Ra, the cops, they think I have something to do with Boo Boo’s murder, but I don’t, he called me and...”

“I know, bro. Don’t worry, I know you are innocent, that’s why I’m keeping you here, the cops don’t know, they are looking for you, this dumb pigs, when it comes to us they never do their job right”

“Boo Boo told me something before he... Before he was shot”, Zeke slowly recovered a bit of his memory of that night.

“What?”

“To look into your old room, behind the Star Wars poster”

“Wha... Why? What could be there?”

“He didn’t tell me, he wasn’t able to”

“The cops are looking for you, you can’t go out”

“But...”

“You can’t, but I can”

“Ra, it can be danger”

“My brother is dead, I don’t care about danger”

Just like this night in the Bronx, on the day of the blackout, he saw their bond once again make itself present.

“Thanks”

“I’ll call Dizzee, he is taking care of the funeral, he must have the keys to our old house”

They share a friendly look, Zeke always knew he could rely on his friends, but it was next nevel friendship, now he had his life on their hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted friday (oct 07).  
> It will be called Save The Date, it'll focus on Boo Boo's funeral and Zeke's big discovery.


	3. Save The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Boo Boo's funeral day, old friends show up to say the last goodbye, but Zeke will not give up so easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: Caetano Veloso - Você Não Me Ensinou A Te Esquecer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oARKLXIj6zw)

Ra Ra meets Dizzee at a public place in the hopes that they would blend with the crowd and not look suspicious.

“What you want this keys for?”, Dizzee asks.

He was wearing a black jeans jacket customized by him, his nails painted in black, part style, part mourning.

“It’s my thing, Dizz. Can’t I go to our parents old house in a time like that? I want to remember the past”

“Of course you can, but I know you Ra, you are hiding something and I don’t like it”

“Stay out of it, bro. It’s for your own good”

“Okay, now you are scaring me, what is going on?”

Ra Ra took a long breath.

“It’s about Boo Boo”

“I knew it. Tell me, what do you know that I don’t?”

“I don’t know much, I just know that before he was murdered he told Zeke to go look behind my Star War’s poster, you know which? The one that Yolanda always pick on me for?”

“Yeah, I remember it. I always thought Han looked fly in that poster”

Ra Ra stared at him, over the years he learned to appreciate Dizzee’s sense of humor.

“So, that’s what I’m going to do, look behind it and see what I find”

“And you are going alone?”

“Yeah, Zeke can’t put his face out there, he is being chased like Pablo Escobar”

“Okay, say no more. I’m going with you”

“What? No, Dizz, I can’t allow it”

“Allow it? I’m sorry but I don’t remember asking your permision. I lost a brother, I’ll not lose another”

“Don’t be dramatic”

“Ra Ra, something heavy is going on and I can feel it. I can feel it and I don’t like it”

Ra Ra gave him a knowing look, Dizzee always was good to sense things, you don’t ignore what he says like that.

***

Zeke looked through the curtains, there was two people walking on the sidewalk, probably unknown to the tragedy surrounding them.

“When you sing it’s like, how red velvet feels. That’s how you sing. Like how butterschotch tastes...”

He was glad he gotta the opportunity to tell how he felt to Mylene, even if at first she wasn’t very fond of the idea. He warm up her heart like hot chocolate in the winter and who knows where things could have gone if someone haven’t take her away from him.

“Yeah, you talk good”, she said softly almost giving in.

“Ain’t talk when it’s true”, he knew how to be charming when he wanted to.

Their lips came close together, but they didn’t kiss. Yet, Zeke still could feel the taste of her lips inside his mouth.

***

Dizzee and Ra Ra arrived at their parents old house, it was almost empty, there was dust all over the place and nothing remind the cozy familiar place it used to be.

“Shit, man. Where did all our stuff go?”, Ra Ra asked surprised.

“Some our parents sold, some were stole and some are broken with it’s pieces all over the place”

“I never thought our folks would really move, they loved this place”

“Yeah, they do. But after mama opened that salon in the city it just didn’t make sense to live in here anymore, I think it also got too big, after we moved out. Boo Boo was helping with the papers”, he couldn’t hide the sadness in his voice.

“Okay, let’s go to my room”

“What used to be your room”, Dizzee corrects him.

There was a broken closet there and pieces of furniture, the Star Wars poster looked out of place.

“You know, I’m pretty sure I took it with me when we packed, but I thought I had lost it, Boo Boo probably took it without me seeing”

“The man with a plan”, Dizzee thoughts drove off.

“Shall we?”, Ra Ra asks.

“Be my guest”, Dizze gestures with his hand.

Slowly Ra Ra walks towards the poster and raises it by the tip, he looks under it.

“There’s nothing there, just a empty hole”, he said confused.

“Are you sure?”

“See for yourself”

Dizzee approaches, he take a closer look.

“Damn, we are late”

“Are you saying that someone came in here and took it?”

“Maybe one of these street robbers or the person behind all that”

“Shit”

“Yeah, shit indeed”

“What will I tell Zeke? Maybe what was in there could prove his innocence and catch who killed Boo Boo”

“We can’t do much now, we don’t even know what we are suppose to be looking for”

Ra Ra thinks for a moment.

“But maybe someone else does”

“Who?”

***

“What?”, Yolanda asks incredule.

“Come on, Boo Boo always trusted you with his secrets, you were the last person he talked with before he was killed. Didn’t he say anything suspicious?”

“You know Boo, he was always secretive”, she thinks over it. “Wait, he did say something that I thought was weird”

“What?”, Ra Ra and Dizzee raise their eyebrows.

“He said that Mylene knew her killer”

“How... How could he know?”, Dizzee asked.

“He only said that and then changed the subject”

“Does it mean... “, Ra Ra starts.

“That the killer was someone closer to Mylene?”, Dizzee continued.

“Maybe the killer was closer to all of us, including Boo Boo”, Yolanda sugests.

“And that’s why he was killed, because he found the killer”, Ra Ra says.

The three stare at each other with fear in their eyes, but no one really daring to say it.

***

“This ain’t Disneyland, this shit is the fucking Bronx”, Shaolin said in agony after his spot got set on fire.

Zeke never forgot the anger in his words. How he pushed him to the ground, but it was clear it was not with Zeke that he was mad, but with the world and how unfair it was.

After Mylene died they drifted away, they wouldn’t see each other for weeks until they wouldn’t see each other at all, Zeke blamed himself, but he was too sad to think about anything else.

Ra Ra arrived hours later, Zeke was starting to get worried, seen his friend put his head to rest, but he had a sad look upon his face and Zeke understood what that meant friend, he sulk in the couch looking far away.

The sun had rised and Zeke hadn’t slept at all. Ra Ra was making breakfast, just a coffee and some toast, he sits by Zeke’s side.

“Shaolin Fantastic”, Zeke whispered.

“Who?”, Ra Ra looked away from his toast paying attetion to his friend, that wasn’t really talking to him. “Ah, Shao, I wonder what happened to him”, he took a bite from his toast, it looked delicious.

“Me too”

“Isn’t that weird how some people have such a impact on our life and then they just vanish?”

“Or they are take away from you”

Ra Ra took a deep breath.

“I wished we had found what you were looking for, but when me and Dizz got there there was just dust”

“It’s okay, it’s means that we are close and the killer is scaried”

“You know, my sister said something that made me think”

“What did she say?”

“She said that Boo Boo told her that Mylene knew the killer, what made sense since I can’t imagine she going out in the night with a total stranger”

“So that’s what she meant”

“What? Who?”

“Before Mylene died she said something to me, she said that I knew something, but I didn’t know what she was talking about, now I think she meant that I knew the killer just like her”

“But who, who would do something like that? I can’t think of anyone that we know that would be that cold”

“Yeah, I know, me too” 

“But if Boo Boo said so, it’s probably true, the killer is someone we know”

It sent shivers down their spine.

“And that’s why Boo Boo gotta killed”

“Yeah, that motherfucker can’t get away Zeke, not this time”

Ra Ra stared at Zeke, he never saw him that serious.

“And he won’t”, Zeke assured him.

***

It was morning, somehow Zeke managed to close his eyes, not sure if he slept, but he was out for a while. When he opened his eyes a white figure was in front of him, she had her hands between her legs and looked like she was examing the man laying on the couch as if he was alien from another planet.

“Regina”, he said with a smile.

“How are you, Zeke boy?”, she asked, her voice was warm.

“What are you doing in here?”, he sits straight.

“Yolanda told me you were here, I was worried”

“Sorry”

Regina takes a deep breath.

“Boo Boo man, he was so sweet, it’s not right”, she has tears in her eyes.

“It’s not”

“Today is his funeral, you know. Everybody is going there now”

Zeke inhales in frustration.

“I wish I could be there too”

“Only if you are crazy, the cops are all over you, they even gotta your pic on the news”

“Damn, as if I would kill one of my best friends”

“I wonder if that would happen if you weren’t black or if you were famous like Michael Jackson”

But Zeke wasn’t, neither were any of his friends, they could be older, but they still were this poor kids from Bronx.

“You know what that made me think of?”, she continued.

“What?”, he knew.

“Mylene, they didn’t caught her killer, they’ll probably not get Boo Boo’s either. That’s fuck up man, real fuck up”

She sit on the coffee table in front of him and put her hands on her face starting to cry, Zeke raises his hands and touches her shoulders.

“There’s no justice in this world, just like what happened to my parents, they didn’t caught their killers either, they are just one in the estatics. We are just numbers to them”

“I’m so angry, Zeke. I don’t like feeling like that, makes me think of my ex boyfriend and how I let him hurt me for so long, after a while I thought I deserved it, but we don’t deserve that. Mylene didn’t deserve to die at the age of sixteen, Boo Boo didn’t deserve to die leaving a wife and kid behind”

“I know, they didn’t, we don’t”

Regina hugs Zeke that then hugs her back, they stay in silence for a while.

***

It’s Boo Boo’s funeral, some of it is being transmited on the TV, Zeke watches it feeling ashamed for not being there to say goodbye to his friend.

Ra Ra is wearing sunglasses, visibly exausted, Dizzee is by his side with his hand over his shoulder, Yolanda is right there with Regina hugging her from behind, it seems like she can barely stand. Their parents are sitting in the front, they are older and less strong than they used to be, their silence tells everything. On the other side was his wife holding their baby girl, Alicia, she was crying with tears falling down her cheeks, yet she was a beautiful woman, Boo Boo was proud for having married such a wonderful person.

They met at a restaurant, she was a social worker, Boo Boo fell in love with her determination.

“I’m going to marry that woman”, he used to say even before they started dating.

And so he did, in may of 1993, they traded golden rings and said ‘yes’. In sickeness and in health, until death do us part, they only couldn’t expect it to be so soon. 

Ms Green was also at the funeral, she talked with some reporters, she was wearing a black dress and a shinning necklace, she talked about what a good student Boo Boo was even if he could be hyperative sometimes. Even after the boys graduated she still kept contact with them, she was a strong presence in their lives and helped Zeke a lot over the years.

“It’s always tragic when someone that young die at the peak of their life”, she says.

Boo Boo was 33 years old, there was a irony in there somewhere, as they say, death is ridiculous. You make plans, you think about the future, you mark a date without even knowing if you’ll last that long. But in this case it was worst, Boo Boo wasn’t sick, it wasn’t a accident, even if it hurts when it happens it’s easier to accept, but that wasn’t the case, Boo Boo was murdered and that is something no one can understand.

Zeke cried like a baby alone in the living room the sun slowly disapearing on the horizon, shadows forming shapes that looked like ghosts, maybe they were.  
Maybe they were Mylene and Boo Boo blaming Zeke for having failing on them like that.

How can anyone stand a pain so strong? He felt like he was going to explode, suddenly the room felt too small for him, he had to leave, even if he was putting his life in risk, he couldn’t stay there no longer. He had to go away from that energy for a moment, so he did, putting a hood covering his face, he left when it was dark enough to go unnoticed in the shadows.

***

Somehow he ended in a library, the only place that he would be welcome at that time of the day.

He sit in one of the tables and looked around, there was four other people in there reading in silence not really seemed to notice their surroundings. That was when he had a idea, he went after the old lady behind the desk.

“Hi, excuse me!”, he said unsure.

She looked up checking the man in front of her like a robot analysing their victim.

“Yes, sir. What can I help you?”

“Where do you keep your records? You know, from old newspapers about crimes and stuff”

She stayed quiet for a while.

“Follow me, please”

They didn’t have the newspapers in it’s original form, but they had microfilms with all the records from the last century.

“Do you have a especific date in mind?”, she asked.

“14 of july of 1977”

“Huh, that’s weird”

“Why?”

“Nothing, just that you are the second person asking for this date”

“Really? Who was the first?”

“A journalist or something, was doing a article about the music of the time. You know, the hip pop”

“Hip hop”

“Yes, whatever the kids listen these days. Are you also doing a article on that?”

“No, I’m writing a story based on a crime that happened”, he lied.

“Right. Well, be fast, the library closes at 10 pm”, she left.

He used one of the machines to be able to read the microfilms, after what felt like hours reading through thousands of old news he finally found a small article about what he was looking for, Mylene’s murder.

“Mylene Cruz, age 16, found dead in the night of 14 of july”

That was not right, he thought. But what was wrong with that picture?

He remembered of meeting Shaolin, going to the club, kissing Mylene, watching her go after telling him that they would never work, than the fire, so much fire, the blackout, the cadillac, the body inside the trunk, just a little boy, his thoughts were confusing, his head started to hurt.

“Will you stay with me?”

He recalled it and finally it made sense. As he remembered Mylene wasn’t found in the night, but in the morning of 14 of july. At least, he really did it, he went back in time and changed the past and his currently memories were a result of it. Damn, it sounded crazy even in his head.

“Oh my God”, he whispered.

Zeke rushed back to Ra Ra’s place, but to his surprise the cops were already there, probably waiting for him. He hidded behind the bushes praying to not be seen.

“Shit”, he said.

Sure he was going to get caught there was only one thing he could do, so he tried. 

Mylene  
Her beautiful eyes  
Her soulful eyes  
Her silky voice

He repeats this images in his head remembering the date 1977, 14 of july, this time he wouldn’t make the same mistake, he would save her.

“Hey, what is that on the bushes?”, one of the cops says.

As they were running to check it out Zeke saw the purple butterfly again, he smiled “Hello, old friend”, he thought to himself. His vision gotta blur and everything disapeared in front of him.

When he opened his eyes again he was on the rooftop with Mylene sleeping peaceful on his arms.

He looks up to the sky “Thank you”, he whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter Will Be Out Sunday (Oct 9)  
> Zeke knows where Mylene will be killed this time and he's even more determined to stop it from happening, also someone else will learn about what is going on.


	4. You Have Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Closer to the truth, Zeke will do the best he can to help both Shaolin and Mylene on the longest day ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: CAN - Vitamin C (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmN9oHa3ZIQ)

Zeke life was hell in 1977, even before the big tragedy that caught him off guard and never really left him. But he was lucky in someways, he was lucky for having a aunt that took care of him after his parents death and even her boyfriend, Leon, being a dick sometimes he still wanted to help in his own way, at least he wasn’t abusive as Mylene’s dad and he actually cared about Zeke’s future. He was also lucky for having amazing friends like Ra Ra, with his suspicious advices and movie references, Boo Boo, sweet boy with a old soul inside a young body, Dizzee with his weird self but undoubtful loyalty. Even Yolanda and Regina became big presences in his life and always made him laugh with their honesty.

He was lucky for having Ms. Green regonizing his potential, even when he denied it, prefered to fail his grades instead of read his poems in front of the class, he was a coward, but she believed in him and for that he was grateful.

“What you doing here, Ms. Green?”, Zeke asked after coming home and be surprised by his teacher at his house kitchen table.

It happens that she had gave his aunt the poem he wrote about his parents death “Fuck”, he thought.

“Your aunt and I have been talking about you... Your future”, Ms. Green said.

He knew exactly what that meant, they would try and force him to get a boring ass job to have a better life as if it was possible, they lived in the Bronx.

“Do you remember the internship opportunities that I told you about?”, there it goes.

He had so much going on in his mind, time was running out and he needed to save Mylene’s life, it could be their last chance.

“Kind of”, he wanted that conversation to end as soon as possible, but he understood that it was for his own good.

As he remembers the internship thing didn’t go well as Mylene died he missed the interview and never came back to it, even with Ms. Green insisting that he should give it a shot, Papa Fuerte also wasn’t the same after Mylene’s death, he became a very dark and recluse man, Zeke end up working at a store for a time while rapping for Shaolin on the side until they parted ways as rhyming didn’t make sense to Zeke anymore as he had lost his mainly inspiration.

“Right now, there’s nobody safe around here”, his aunt had no idea.

He end up accepting Ms. Green proposition even if only to buy some time. He followed her to the door.

“Ezekiel”, she started. “I have a good feeling about you, I truly believe you’ll achieve great things in your life”

He smiled.

“Thanks Ms. Green, you are kind of the only one to think that for now”

“For now?”

“I mean... Most of people think I’ll end up dead in a alley”

“Don’t say that, you have a whole life ahead of you, you’ll still see a lot of things, who knows? Maybe I get to see them too”, she says in a vague tone.

“Let’s hope so”

She leaves, he thinks about how much he must be changing this time and what it will result in the lives of people around him.

***

Dizzee was drawning one of his pieces, concentred on the lines, he draws pink stars on the abandoned train full of other’s art pieces, even if to some people it was considered vandalistic, it was a masterpiece by itself.

“It’s the pigs”, someone shouts.

The bombers starts to run, Dizzee grabs his bag and goes straight to the tunnel, needing to go faster he let go of his stuffs and keep on running, without any where to go he almost loses hope until a mysterious figure shows up offering him a place to hide.

“Here. Take my hand”, says the boy.

Dizzee grabs the boy’s hand and is pulled into a entrance on the wall that leads to another tunnel where the cops can’t see them.

“Thank you”, Dizzee is almost out of breath.

“It’s getting harder to hide, wasn’t always this way”, the blond boy with blue eyes says oblivious to the reality of their world.

“Was for me”, Dizzee corrects him.

They talk for a while and learn that they were both admirers of each other’s work, the blond writes Thor and he is amazed when Dizzee reveals that he writes Rumi.

“You are a fucking genius”, he says as Dizzee explains his piece.

“What?”, Dizzee almost thinks he heard him wrong.

Thor looks shy when Dizzee compliment his work, he feels a fuzzy feeling inside without really being able to explain it, that boy made him feel something he never felt before.

“Viva la revolución”, Dizzee says as they exchange books on their way home and part ways planing to meet soon.

Thor smiles, Dizzee gets out of the train still feeling that fuzzy feeling inside.

If only he knew at the time the amazing world that boy would introduce him to and how he would change his life after that.

***

Mylene arrives Yolanda’s parents house, she have been staying there after her dad kicked her out, there’s a little note on the table with her name on it. It’s a blue paper and she regonizes the letter as being Zeke’s, she bites her lips feeling a happiness even before reading it.

“Meet me tonight at the alley. Love, Zeke”

That’s weird, didn’t seem like Zeke to mark something so last minute and leave a note? Not even a poem? She didn’t want go, something was telling her not to, but Zeke would be upseted with her, but what would Yolanda’s parents think if she left at time of the day? 

She looked around and no one seemed to be home yet. She left in a hurry, now it’s too late to change her mind.

She meets Yolanda and Regina in front of the salon. Mrs Kipling was observing them.

“Hey, girl, where are you going?”

“I have some stuff to do, we talk later, okay?”

“Okay”

Yolanda and Regina look at each other.

“Stuff?”, Regina questions.

***

Zeke was at the alley, waiting, he didn’t know when it was going to happen, but he knew it was going to happen, so he was there to stop it.

“Zeke?”, Ms Green seemed surprised by his presence.

“Ms Green? What are you doing in here?”

“I was going to talk with you, about the internship, I wanted to make sure you are going and you? Why are you out so late? Hope not anything that can get you in trouble”

How could he explain what he was doing there “Stopping a crime from happening, by the way, I’m from the future, do you want know what will happen next?”

“No, I’m... Enjoying the air of the night”

“The air of the night”

“Yeah, they say it’s good for you, it has less polution, because there’s less cars going around”

“Really?”

“Yes, you know science, they discover something new everyday”

“I don’t think there’s any science in what you just said, but what do I know? I would have to check it out later”

“Zeke”, Myelene said with a smile. “Ms. Green”, her smile faded.

“Hello, Mylene”, Ms. Green said suddenly understanding it. “You also came to enjoy the air of the night?”

“What?”, Mylene looked confused.

“Mylene, what are you doing in here?”, Zeke asked.

Mylene thought over it and assumed Zeke wanted her to lie.

“I was going to the church, I forgot a book there and I need it to study”

“Study? It’s summer time”, Ms. Green said.

“We need to always be seeking knowlegde, right, Ms Green?”

“Yes, Mylene, it makes me very happy to see my students so engaged with studying even out of the school”

Mylene and Zeke holded hands. Ms. Green looked with a grin on her face.

“So, Zeke, are you going to the interview?”, she asked.

“Yes, Mylene will go with me”, he said.

“Yeah. I’ll make sure he don’t miss it”, Mylene agreed.

“Good, so see you soon!”, she said.

“Bye”, he said.

“Bye, Ms. Green”, Mylene said.

Ms. Green left.

“Ay, bendito, what was she doing here?”, Mylene asked.

“She only wants to help, what are you doing in here?”

“Funny as if you didn’t know”

“Me? Why?”

“Zeke, you wrote me a note telling me to meet you here”

“I did what?”

“You are kidding right?”

“No, I swear, I didn’t send you any note”

“So what is that?”, she shows him the note.

It looked like his hand writting, but he was sure he didn’t write that.

“Mylene, I don’t know what that is, but it’s not mine”

“If it wasn’t you, so who did it?”

Zeke thought for a moment, it had to be the killer, he looked around in worry.

“Mylene, we better get out of here”

“Zeke, you are scarying me”

“Just, let’s go, it’s late and it’s not safe in here”

Zeke watched as Mylene entered the Kiplings house, he decided to head back to the alley look for some clues, but he found nothing until he saw a shadow in the dark.

“Who are you?”, he asked without a aswear. “I’m not afraid of you, I know my future, I’ll not die today”

He heard a chuckle.

“Who is there?”

The shadow vanishes.

“It won’t happen, not again!”, he shouted out completly alone.

***

Zeke spent the whole night swake watching over the Kiplings’ house making sure Mylene was safe, when the sun rised he was realived, but still not at peace. The killer was still out there and he could try again.

Ra Ra, Boo Boo and Dizzee walking down the street and stop at a record store.

“I can’t believe we will have to clean the whole salon, I prefered to be dead”, Boo Boo complains.

“I think they went easy on us, after all we screw up for real this time”, Dizzee says.

“Yeah”, Ra Ra and Boo Boo agreed.

“What are we doing in here anyway?”

“I heard the owner has a Star Wars poster and I want see if he’ll sell it to me”, Ra Ra explains.

“With what money?”, Boo Boo wonders.

“Shhh, I have my money... I asked some to Yolanda and promised to keep her name out of the party”

“Ah”, Dizzee and Boo say in unisson.

“Let’s hurry or dad is going to be pissed if he doesn’t see us at the salon”, says Boo Boo.

“May the force be with us”, Ra Ra puts his hand on his younger brother shoulder, Boo Boo gives him a weird look.

The owner stares at the three hopeful waiting for a aswear.

“Show me the money, boy”

Ra Ra grins.

***

“Will you come down to the city with me right now?”, Mylene asked between kisses right after Zeke’s meeting with her tio. “Because I really need to go see Jackie”

That’s was a weird name to hear, because in his future Jackie would have been found dead three days latter after his neighbors noticed a smell coming from his room, he had a heroin overdose. Could Mylene visit save his life like Zeke saved hers?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you want”, he says.

Zeke was planning to stay with Mylene the whole day, but something got in the middle, Shaolin and the bootleg.

“This is my fucking life I’m talking about. Shit can’t wait”

At this moment Zeke was put on the spot and he had to choose, the girl he loved or his friend. He didn’t know if Mylene life was still at risk, but he knew that things could go wrong for Shaolin and he wouldn’t let him alone. 

“I’ll come with you, just give me a second”

Mylene never looked so upsetted with Zeke as she looked on the moment, but he had to hope she would understand eventually.

“Te amo”, he said as she left angrily flipping him off, he hoped that wouldn’t be the last they ever saw each other.

Hours later

Mylene, Yolanda and Regina were at the train, Jackie asleep in front of them, he was still recovering after the death scare.

“I thought that was pretty good”, Yolanda refers to the tune Jackie showed them early.

He was delirious, but he still could make good music if he tried.

“I think that’s all his broke ass got”, Regina saying laughing.

“What you think, Mylene?” Yolanda asks.

But Mylene got her mind in other place. She feels like a idiot, Jackie got no song, her tio will be mad because of the money he wasted, her dad will never forgive her and her mother will look with disapointment when she tell her what happened.

“I just learned, sometimes, you gotta take some bad with the good. Tú sabes?”, Regina says.

Mylene is grateful for her friends, at least she knew she could count on them.

“You are my girls, for life”, she says.

They stayed in silence until Yolanda started humming and Regina followed her lead, the three sang “I’ll be There” while Jackie watched amazed by their harmonies.

Zeke and Shaolin were in the taxi after they managed to return the bootleg to Grandmaster Flash. They were tried, but the day was not over.

“I have to see Mylene”, Zeke said.

“Bro, can you stop thinking about that bitch for a minute?”

“How many times I need to tell you to stop calling her that?”

“I’m just saying, she is holding you back”

“She is not! Anyway, I need to see her, it’s important”

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand”

“Try me”, he stared deep into Zeke’s eyes.

“What if I said that I came from the future and I’m here to save Mylene’s life?”

Shaolin stayed quiet for a while.

“I would say that you better let go from that joint, bro, it’s affecting your brain”

“I’m serious, Shao. I came from 1996, Boo Boo was shot dead right in front of me, he knew something, I don’t know how but I end up here, twice, first time I met you and now I stopped Mylene from get killed yesterday”

“Shit man, now I smoked too much because I’m kind of believing in you”

“She is not safe yet, I need to find the killer, that’s the only way to end it for once and for all”

“And you are doing that all by yourself”

“Who would believe me? People would think I’m crazy”

Shaolin look into the distance.

“So, you know the future?”, Zeke shuddered. “Tell me something, what happens to me in the future?”

“I ask myself the same thing”

“Fuck”, Shao takes a deep breath. “Are you ready to play the hero tonight?”

“Are you for real?”

“Let’s go save your lady in distress”

Zeke smiles.

“Thank you, Shao!”

"Hey, tonight the future will be rewrite by the hands of two black boys from the Bronx”, his eyes shine under the moonlight.

Shaolin tell the driver where to go while not far from there Mylene is celebriting her father’s approval, she just can’t count that this night someone else is watching from afar, waiting, until she is alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: Next and final chapter will be posted on Saturday (oct 15)


	5. One Life For Another

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeke faces off Mylene's killer. Now, will him be able to save them all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Birdy - Not About Angels (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxVUee4WsoA)

“So, what now?”, Shaolin asked as they waited no far from Mylene’s house.

“I don’t know, for the first time I have no idea what happens next”

“Yo, that car parked is kind of suspicious, I think someone is inside”

Zeke looked out of the widows, Shaolin was right, it was suspicious.

“I think I know that car”, Zeke said thinking. “I’ll go there check out”

“Want me to come?”

“No, you stay and watch over just in case Mylene appears, first time I was lucky enough to be there, now I’m couting on you”

Shaolin just nodded. Zeke gotta out of the taxi and went after the mysterious car. He knocked on the widow.

“Ezekiel?”, he couldn’t believe it.

“Ms Green? What are you doing here?”

She puts her hand over her head.

“My car broke down, I think I’m out of gas, thanks God you are here”

“Why didn’t you ask for help?”

“On this neighborhood? I prefer to wait for a kind soul and you showed up”, she smiled.

“Want me to check the engineer?”

“Please, I wouldn’t know where to start”

“Okay, just open the hood for me”

Zeke took a look, not that he understood much about cars, but he could work his way around it.

“So?”, Ms Green asked. “How bad it is”

“Hmm... Turn the engineer on, please”, and so she did and the car worked perfectly.

“Well, that’s weird”, she said. “It wasn’t working before you came”

“Maybe it was cold, it happens”

“Anyway, thank you for the help”

“You’re welcome!”

“Now, what are you doing out so late?”

“Would you believe if I said I was enjoying the air?”

Ms Green laughs.

“Well, as long as you don’t miss your interview tomorrow”

Zeke clenched his fist, he was probably going to miss the interview.

“I won’t”, he lied.

Ms Green thought for a while.

“Hey, Zeke, since it’s already late, why won’t you come to a place with me?”

“Where?”

“It’s a secret”

Zeke looks around, Shaolin is distrated smoking a joint with the taxi driver.

“Okay”, Zeke get inside the car.

***

They drive for a while, Zeke almost doesn’t regonize the place anymore. The radio plays a soft music very low, the car smell like mint.

“Do you believe that some people are connected, Ezekiel?”, she asks without taking her eyes from the road.

“What do you mean?”

“Like... That some people are somehow meant to be in each other’s lives and that it’s like a rope that keep they tied up together. You understand me?”

“I guess”, Zeke ponders the idea. “Yeah, I think I do believe in it”, he thought about Mylene and how he always felt they were connected.

“Would you believe if I said that we are connected?”

“How so?”

“You and I, Zeke, we are equals. I get you and I believe you get me”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, that’s why we keep bumping into each other, almost like you knew exactly where I was going to be and it didn’t take much until I knew exactly where you would be”

Zeke was confused, but slowly it started to make sense.

“What are you saying?”

“It started at that night at the alley, I planned it all right, I left the note, I knew Mylene would be by herself”

Zeke couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“But then you showed up and I had to play the part. I couldn’t sleep that night thinking how could he know, did he know? But you didn’t, no, but yet you were there, why? Then it clicked, you were suppose to be there, like I was, in the end, it had to be me and you, like now”

“You?”, Zeke couldn’t even form sentences.

“Yes, Ezekiel, me. Are you surprised? I thought you would know by now, after all, we are connected”

“Why? Why did try to kill Mylene?”

“Because she was getting in the way, she was stopping you from achieve your full potential, your love for her was blinding you and I had to do something”

“Kill her?”

“Yes, if that meant that you would listen to me. She had her fingers all over you like a puppet, while she lives, you’ll never be free”

“Are you insane?”

She laughs.

“Tell me, Zeke, how did you know? How did you know I was going to kill her?”

“Because you did, in another life”

“But not on that, you saved her and by result, my hands are clean, for now”

“For now?”

Ms Green stops the car in front of a abandoned building.

“Do you want know what is in the trunk?”

Zeke freezed. He took the key out of Ms Green’s hand and run out of the car opening the trunk, only to be surprised by a unconcious Mylene inside.

“How?”

“I waited outside her house until she appear with her friends, they were singing”, she started to humming Set Me Free. “It sounded beautiful, they always did, then Yolanda and Regina left, leaving Mylene by herself, I pulled the broken car card with her, like I did with you, I knocked her out and put her inside the trunk, I was leaving until you came in the taxi, again, you showing at the right place at the right time, I was going to leave, kill Mylene and maybe never get caught, but then I waited... I don’t know why, but I did and you came to me like you came before and I couldn’t leave you or else you would know, wouldn’t you?”

“That you killed Mylene”

“Yes, I thought she was the one to die, but now I see, I was wrong”

“How so?”, Zeke starts to cry.

“Because Zeke, we are connected, I can’t live without you and you ain’t live without me. That’s how it’s suppose to end, that’s why you came back and changed the past”

“So you are going to kill me?”, he scoffs.

"How is that to change places? All this time you’ve been seeing through my eyes, but now I’m seeing through yours”

“Maybe you are right, maybe I’ve been looking through your eyes. That’s why it was so blurr, I was blind, but now I see”, he takes a deep breath. “As why Boo Boo was killed”

“Boo Boo?”, she is confused.

“You kill him in the future or a version of it.”

“And why did I do that?”

“The necklace”, he looked at Mylene. “Boo Boo set a trap to the killer, he was always clever, he took one of Mylene’s necklaces, the one she is using today, the butterfly one, he made the killer think he had a prove, that he knew who killed her, but he didn’t. He hided the necklace in Ra Ra’s old room and you... A version of you fell for it, you took the necklace and you killed Boo Boo to make sure no one would ever know about your slip, when you touched the necklace you set yourself up, because Boo Boo knew that whoever had the necklace was the killer”

“And how would he know that I had the necklace?”

“Because you gotta bold and you gotta dumb, you even dared to wear it at his funeral, I didn’t regonize at first, but now I see, it’s the same”

“He set me up? Waited for me to fall in his trap, but I was quickier, wasn’t I?”

“The only way to stop it is by not letting it happen”

She seemed unfazed.

“If that’s how you want it... Let’s go up there, huh? On that building”

He looked up and then to Mylene.

“And what about her?”

Ms Green stared down to Mylene, she took her necklace off.

“She will be fine when she wakes up”, she closes the trunk.

They went up the building, the wind was strong up there.

“What a beautiful moon, don’t you think?”

“A beautiful moon hiding a ugly crime. You won’t get away with it, soon the sun will come out and your true face will shine”, he says.

“We will see about that”, Ms Green look into the distance. “You know, Ezekiel, I didn’t liked your story, it had tragedy and angst, but I liked my new one better as it has drama and tension”

Ms Green pointed the gun at Zeke, he closed his eyes walking towards the edge of the rooftop, but he couldn’t do it, if she wanted him dead, she would have to do it herself.

“See you on the other side”, she says.

He waited for a ‘boom’, but instead he heard a fainted scream and when he opened his eyes Ms Green was on the floor and Shaolin had the gun.

“Shao?”

“I saw you leaving in the car and we followed you from afar, I knew something shade was going on”

“Thanks, man. And Mylene, did you see her?”, Zeke had never been more relived in seen his friend.

“Yes, she is okay, B.”, Shaolin aswers. “We took her out of the trunk”

“You can’t kill me, I’m a teacher, you are just a little thug, if you pull that trigger, you’ll be the criminal, not me”, Ms Green says.

“Who said I’ll kill you? Nah, you’ll rot in jail like all the other criminals like you”, Shaolin said with determination.

“And what was my crime? Care too much?”

“Kidnapping, attemped murder, you named it”, Zeke says.

“And to think I did all for you, what a waste of time”, Ms Green says angry.

Mylene appears still dizzy trying to keep herself still.

“Zeke? Ms Green? What is going on?”, she asks.

“Mylene, are you okay?”, Zeke hugs her.

“Yes, Shaolin and the taxi driver helped me, I don’t undertand”, she looks at Ms Green. “Why are you doing it to us?”

Ms Green roll her eyes.

“Ask Zeke, he knows”

“Zeke?”

“I did it for him”

“For me? You did nothing for me”, Zeke confronts her.

“No, but I’ll do now, for us”

When they least expected she stood up and ran in Zeke’s direction.

“BOOKS”, Shaolin screams.

Mylene is quick and manages to take Zeke out of the way, Ms Green throws herself out of the building straight to her death.

“Are you okay?”, Shaolin asks out of breath.

“Yes!”, he looks at Mylene. “You saved me”

“Of course I did, I love you”

“I love you too”, Zeke says and they kiss.

“Ugh, couples”, Shaolin jokes.

They left the buiding, Ms Green is on the ground, holding Mylene’s necklace, she takes it back.

“Are you gonna keep it?”, Zeke asks worried.

“No, but she ain’t keeping it either”, Mylene says.

“Let’s go, bro, before the cops shows up”, Shaolin warns them.

“And what will we say?”

“What can we say? It’s better if we stay quiet, let the cops make their own version of the history”, Zeke says.

“You think it’ll work?”

“It’s the Bronx we are talking about, how many unsolved cases that we know of? That’ll be just one more”, Zeke says.

They left in the cab. They never spoke about it ever again, after a while they believed in the lie and the reality seemed more like a nightmare than something that actually happened.

**_Zeke remembers it_ **

Mylene, smiling at him, kissing him, perfoming with the Soul Madonnas, her hair moving with the wind, she aged beautiful and turned into a beautiful woman, she achieved all her dreams and so did Zeke, together they build a family and more importantly, a future.

**Nineteen years later**

Zeke wakes up and a beautiful woman is next to him, but he doesnt regonize her.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

 “Who are you?”, he asks confused.

 She scoffs.

 “Of course you don’t remember my name, I’m Rebecca”

 “Where is Mylene?”

“Mylene? Your ex-wife? Probably banging your manager, right?”

“My manager? Ra Ra?”

“Yes, they are a thing now, don’t you remember?”, she goes back to sleep.

Dizzee wakes up with Thor staring at him, he puts his hands over his face.

“Stop staring at me, it’s creep”

“You look pretty when you are dreaming”

“Says Jack, the ripper”, Dizzee jokes.

“Ready for today?”

“The gallery! Is it really happening?”

“Yes, it’s, today your art will be exposed to everyone to see, not in the streets, but in a fancy place where people will pay to have a piece of your mind on their walls”, Thor smiles.

Dizzee looks up.

“Oh my... I feel like I’m floating, but I know I’m not, is that what happiness feels like?”

“I guess... I have a meeting with my editor, he’s pushing me to finish my comic quicker”

“He is a jerk”

Thor stands up.

“Yes, he is, but he is also the reason I’m being payed, so I can’t complain”

“May I see it?”

“It’s not ready”

“I don’t care, show me!”

Thor takes a sheet of paper and gives to Dizzee.

“RUMY, the hero that reads minds and saves the day with his powerful afro”, Dizzee giggles.

“He does more than that, he teaches people to be themselves and have more self confidence”, Thor says with pride.

“Oh, does him? I wonder where you gotta the inspiration from”

“I wonder that too”, Thor sits by Dizzee sides and gives him soft kisses.

Zeke is in the park, Mylene called him to go there to pick up their son as it was his day to stay with him. She arrived holding their little boy, about five years old and in the company of Ra Ra.

“Hi, bro”, Ra Ra says raising his hand.

“Hi”, Zeke tries not to sound too chocked or upseted.

“Did you forget again?”, Mylene asks.

“No... I didn’t”, he takes the boy from Mylene.

“You’ll have to stay with him one day more since me and Ra will go to a trip with our friends”

“Yolanda and Regina?”, he looks ar Ra Ra.

“Yes, Dizzee and Thor too”, he answers.

“And Boo Boo and his wife Cassandra, everybody will be there”, Mylene says, Zeke can't help but smile when he hears his friend name, he knows now that Boo Boo is still a lawyer, a successful one and very happy.

“Everyone but me”, he miss his friends and is sad to be excluded

“We wanted to invited you, but...”, Ra Ra tries to explain.

“It’s a family reunion, only for the Kipling siblings", Mylene says.

"... It was a last minute thing, we figured you would be too busy", Ra Ra says.

"It's okay, I'll enjoy my time with my little man, right?", his son agrees.

"Do you think you can handle it? I can call a nanny", Mylene sugests.

“No, I can handle it, I can take care of my own son”

“Okay”, she caress Oscar’s ear. “Mommy will be back soon, alright? Take care”, she places a kiss on his cheek. “See you, Zeke”, she looks at him as if she was trying to read him.

"See you on our next gig", Ra Ra says.

“See ya”, Zeke says to the two.

Mylene stops walking and look at Zeke once more.

"Are you okay, Zeke?", she asks.

"Yes. And you?", he asks.

"Yeah... I'm", she smiles. Zeke smirks, Mylene turns away, she and Ra Ra hold hands as they leave.

Zeke looks at his son.

“What do you want do?”

“Watch TV”, the boy says.

“Watch TV? That’s boring, let’s go have some ice cream”

Zeke observes as his boy eats the ice cream getting it all over his face. And he understands that he didn’t go back in time only to save Mylene’s life, but to be able to create a new one, their son and for that all that they went through was worth it.

They are walking on the street, he sees a familiar face coming on the opposette direction.

“Shao?”

“Zeke?”, them stop and stare to each other. “How long?”, he hugs Zeke.

“Too long, how are you?”

“Fine, just enjoying life, no strings attached”

“Really? I got married and then divorced. That’s my boy, Oscar”

“Hey, there”, Shao rubs the boy’s head.

“Are you busy?”

“No, actually, I just came from a reunion with my producer”

“You are still a DJ?”

“Forever, man. That’s my life. And you? I heard you a famous rapper now”

“I can get a few houses full”

“Maybe we could work in a project together, like in the old days”

“I would love that”

“Do you have a phone?”

“Yes, man, do you have a pen?”

Zeke gives Shaolin his number.

“It’s good to see you, you look good”, Shaolin says looking nostalgic.

“You too, hey, now that you are around why don’t you come to one of my shows?”

“For sure, I’ll be there”

“So, until next time?”, Zeke says unsure.

“Until next time”, Shao says with certainty.

They part their ways.

“Dad, who is that man?”, Oscar asks.

Zeke kneels next to his son.

“Are you ready for story time?”

“YEAH”, he raises his arms

“His name was Shaolin Fantastic a lady killer romantic...”, Zeke grabs his son and raps to him as they go back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it was fun to write, hope you enjoyed it. :)
> 
> I actually had a completly diferent end, but changed it over night. I don't know if it was a good call, but I think it deserved a bittersweet ending.
> 
> Shout Out To The Amazing Fanart Made By Our Fandom: http://tgdfanart.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be posted Monday (oct 03)  
> It'll be called "Two Days" and will happen around the time of the blackout.


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